Tsadaqah

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. -- Genesis 15:1-6

When last we met, Abram was enjoying one of the high points of his life. He started off as a wayfaring pilgrim leaving his home at the age of 75. He soon encountered a famine and was forced to flee to Egypt. There he felt compelled to deceive Pharaoh and place his wife, Sarai, in a compromising position to avoid his being slain. The Lord miraculously delivered Abram and his family as they were simultaneously expelled from Egypt and given great wealth. Soon afterwards, their riches divided Abram and his nephew, Lot, who was subsequently captured by an invading army. Against all odds, Abram and a few hundred of his servants rescued Lot and all the other captives from the raiding army. Upon returning home, Abram was met by the King and Priest Melchizedek, who blessed him and to whom Abram gave "tithes of all."

Ironically, it is on the heels of Abram's mountain-top experience that we find him lamenting. Although he was rich in goods, valiant at arms, respected by kings, and blessed by God, Abram recognized that his success was limited by his mortality. When God came to him "in a vision" Abram simply asked, "Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?"

At first glance it appears that Abram is being a bit ungrateful, but closer inspection reveals that he does not want more for himself but rather to share what he has. Abram's perspective was maturing from a self-centered view to a long-term one encompassing future generations. He was not the only one recorded in the scriptures to undergo this transformation: both kings David and Solomon, though they enjoyed unmatched personal success in their day, eventually reached a point where they were most concerned about their children. In the New Testament several of the apostles seem to have experienced a similar concern for their spiritual descendants -- the church.

It seems likely that Abram's complaint was about his lack of biological offspring. And God answers Abram's prayer by promising him a biological heir even though it seemed an impossibility considering Abram's & Sarai's advanced age. But the Lord goes even further in His promise to Abram by adding that Abram's children will be as numerous as the stars. By the grace of God, Abram "believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. -- Jeremiah 23:5-6

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. -- Romans 3:21-26

Romans 10:4 declares, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

The Hebrew word translated "righteousness" in Genesis 15:6 is tsadaqah; and it is defined as justice, righteousness, and truthfulness. Although tsadaqah appears 150 times in the Old Testament in a variety of contexts, one of the recurring themes of the word is God's righteousness in a saving or justifying manner. Based on the language of Genesis 15:6 (i.e. "...he counted it to him for righteousness), such seems to be the use here. Although Abram is a sinner by birth, God counts him righteous because "he believed in the LORD."

What Abram did or did not understand about this promise is not all that pertinent for us today. What is pertinent for us today is what we understand, so let's review what God has revealed so far.

Genesis 3:15 says, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

The Savior will be descended from Eve and will destroy the Devil.

Genesis 3:21 states, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

Genesis 4:4 accounts, "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering."

The Savior will need to sacrifice blood in order to redeem or buy back sinners.

Genesis 6:8 declares, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

The Savior is a gift of God's grace.

Genesis 6:13-14a proclaims, "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark...."

Although humanity is universally sinful and condemned, the Savior is the one way to life.

Genesis 12:2-3 records, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

The Savior will come through Abram but will be a blessing to "all families of the earth."

Genesis 14:18 foretells, "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God."

The Savior will be a priest similar in nature to Melchizedek.

Genesis 15:6 chronicles, "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

The Savior will impute righteousness to those who believe in Him.

Melchizedek

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. -- Genesis 14:18-20

In the last post, we examined God's blessing of Abram recorded in the beginning of Genesis 12. Let's take a moment to highlight Abram's life as chronicled in the scriptures from chapter twelve to chapter fourteen of Genesis.

First, Abram by faith obeys God's call and leaves his home. Among others his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, accompany him. Because of a famine Abram journeys south to Egypt where he stays for a time. Apparently, Sarai was quite "the looker" because eventually Pharaoh expels Abram out of Egypt after Pharaoh, having been deceived by Abram about the nature of Abram's & Sarai's relationship, attempts and fails to take Sarai as his wife.

Next, Abram returns north but is now confronted with a new problem: his and his nephew's herdsmen are disputing over pasture-land, which is in too short supply for the combined total of their livestock. They decide on the obvious solution and go their separate ways with Lot choosing to live near Sodom.

Finally, a war involving Sodom erupts and Lot is taken as a prisoner of war. This news reaches Abram, who arms "his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen," and miraculously rescues Lot and the other prisoners from the invading army. Upon his return Abram is met by the king of Sodom and the enigmatic King of Salem. Fortunately, much of the mystery surrounding Melchizedek is explained in the New Testament.

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. -- Hebrews 7:1-4

Melchizedek's name is interpreted as the King of righteousness, and he is identified as the King of peace. Romans 5:21 declares, "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord;" and the first verse of the chapter proclaims, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Of course, there are many other scriptures pointing to Christ as being our source of righteousness and peace; but Melchizedek provided more clues to his identity. He then "brought forth bread and wine." The significance of this act in light of the Lord's supper cannot be overlooked.

And he[Jesus Christ] took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. -- Luke 22:19-20

Also, Melchizedek is called "the priest of the most high God." One must remember that this appellation predates the Levitical priesthood, which would not begin for three more generations.

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. -- Hebrews 7:22-28

Finally, one should consider Abram's response of giving Melchizedek "tithes of all." Giving an offering is an act of worship not to be entered into lightly. By this time Abram was a worshipper of Yahovah because chapters twelve and thirteen of Genesis record Abram building at least three altars to the Lord and calling upon the Lord at least four times. Clearly, Abram knew exactly who Melchizedek was. The question is, "Do you?"

Barakah

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. -- Genesis 12:1-3

The Hebrew word translated "blessing" in the above passage is barakah, and it is defined among other ways as a source of blessing, a gift or present, or a treaty of peace. As you have probably guessed, the words translated as "bless" and "blessed" are closely related to barakah. Although the above passage is recounting specific commands and promises made by Yahovah to Abram, it is also an important revelation about Eve's "seed," who was previously foretold about in Genesis 3:14-15. However, before we go into detail about that let's take a moment to try to better understand Abram's history up to this point.

Abram is removed from Noah by only 11 generations. Although that may seem like a long time, one should consider that 11 generations ago our ancestors were likely discussing or fighting for American independence. In contrast, the birth of Noah and the birth of Abram were separated by 892 years. Continuing with our analogy, 892 years ago our ancestors were likely discussing or fighting in the Crusades!

The reason for this dramatic difference is that people during the time period from Noah to Abram were still enjoying what we would consider to be supernaturally long lifespans. Although humans were no longer living eight or nine hundred years, they were still blessed with 200 to 400 years of vitality.

There were, no doubt, many changes between the time of Noah and Abram's day; but I would like to focus on the couple that are mentioned in scripture. Perhaps the most profound difference was the confounding or mixing up of humanity's one language into many. Certainly, this had some effect on transitioning a family-oriented culture to a nation-oriented one.

Another major change was people's initiating propagation at a much younger age than they previously did. For instance, Noah did not have his three sons until he was 500 years old; however, Abram was born when his father was only 70 years old. This would have had two effects on Abram's culture. First, the world's population would have been growing at a much increased rate. Second, one would have been contemporary with not only his parents and grandparents, but also with many of his forefathers. For example, Noah was still alive for much of Abram's life.

Now that we have a some idea of Abram's world, we can turn again to the Lord's revelation to him in Genesis 12. Certainly, God is revealing to Abram that He will make the nation of Israel from Abram. However, the promise goes much further than that because the Lord tells Abram, "...in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." The Lord uses the Apostle Paul to explain in Galatians 3:7-8, which states:

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

The beginning of Genesis 12 recounts God's prophesying to Abram two important truths about the coming Savior. First, He will come as a member of the nation of Israel. Second, He will come to bless "all families of the earth." Abram may also have concluded that the One to come will be the Source of blessing, the Gift, & the Peace-maker.

Abraham is commonly reported as the father of the faithful, and that is certainly a title that he earned by God's grace. However, Abraham's faith was blessed only because of the Object of his faith -- the Lord. So I would like to leave you not with the common question of "Do you believe?" but rather "In what or whom do you believe?" Lord willing, we will learn more of the blessed One in the next post soon.